


Bases Loaded

by im95notdead (scorose)



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Baseball, Baseball game, F/M, Not Canon Compliant, Oneshot, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-29
Updated: 2019-09-29
Packaged: 2020-11-01 06:57:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,899
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20810945
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scorose/pseuds/im95notdead
Summary: Darcy drags Loki to a "relaxing" baseball game, and then makes it anything but. Oneshot.





	Bases Loaded

**Author's Note:**

> I was going through some old files and found this, written back in 2015. Had to throw in a Reds shout-out. (I miss you, Brandon Phillips!) Obviously this is not canon compliant. I went back and edited and fudged some of the details, but anyway. Please enjoy this gratuitous Tasertricks.

If there was anything Darcy Lewis hated, it was long-term, awkward silence. 

Darcy was the type of person who enjoyed filling the silence with chatter, sound effects, or some sort of visual entertainment. She’d spent long, agonizing hours playing assistant lab monkey to Doctor Jane Foster, a now world-renowned physicist, who permitted her voice but was, more often than not, ignoring her for whatever project she’d been working for. But those were the good old days, when she could pretend, somehow, that a physics internship might aid her in any way with her political science degree.

She’d still gotten her degree – about a year behind schedule, and within the confines of a secure SHIELD facility, but it was her hard work, determination, and (she liked to think) her God of Thunder wrangling skills that got her there. Well, also a nondescript, black-wearing SHIELD agent that showed up on her doorstep as she watched alien robots level New York City via the internet, dangling her iPod from his fingers like candy and inviting her into his windowless van. Literally, a windowless van. But it was less inviting, and more like, “Yo, Miss Lewis, you know way too much about Norse Gods and Eisenberg Roseart bridges to be chilling unsupervised in New Mexico, ya dig?” The agent had worded it more professionally, but Darcy could read between the lines. She was a liability – especially, she mused, with her blabby mouth. So she became an agent trainee, working in the archives by day and taking her last three classes in the evenings. But then SHIELD was exposed as a terrorist organization and Thor came back and the Avengers saved the world again and Nick Fury had Darcy’s personal cell phone number. 

Life was weird sometimes. _All_ the time.

“Come on, Loki. Just one baseball game. It’ll be so relaxing; we’ll just drink some overpriced beer and unwind. It’s more laid back than golf!”

That aaaaaand she found herself friends with an evil alien overlord Frost Giant-turned-Norse god. The guy was a fugitive, in layman’s terms, but as long as he used his powers for good Nick Fury seemed hell-bent on keeping him alive, and thanks to the ex-SHIELD director, when Darcy changed hands and became lackey to Dr. Erik Selvig at the Avengers Upstate Compound, Loki became the subject of her latest babysitting assignment.

“That electronic contraption you attach to your ears must have addled your brain, Miss Lewis. I will not be attending.”

…Hours of NDAs and hand cramps for _this_?

The greasy-haired little jerk – okay, not _little_, he was over six feet tall, putting him in the hotness Danger Zone – was slowly growing on her, as one might describe a leech. He had mesmerizing eyes and a wicked smile that turned her insides to goo, but then he opened his mouth, and Darcy wanted to Hulk smash him into the nearest surface. (But not _that_ kind of Hulk smash.) 

Darcy gritted her teeth. Loki knew how much she hated getting her way. But she was totally getting her way. 

~0~

“_What the hell_ kind of call was that? Are you blind?” Darcy shouted enthusiastically over the chorus of ‘boo’s that reverberated around the stadium as the batter was struck out. Loki ran a harried hand down the side of his face. The batter walked dejectedly back to the dugout, and the player on deck took his place at home plate, bat in hand.

“This was not the quiet afternoon I had in mind,” Loki said quietly, seated low in his seat, a far cry from his usual prim, straight spine.

“Sorry,” Darcy apologized belatedly for her outburst. “I’m just… very passionate about baseball.”

“I thought you were cheering for the… Reds,” Loki said weakly.

“I was,” she replied, eyes returning with intent focus to the diamond. “Just, _also_ the Mets. I’m not overly attached to either team,” she clarified. “I mean, it’s logical to root for the home team in these situations. Mob mentality, and all that. But Brandon Phillips deserves all my loving, because _damn_, that’s a fine hunk of man.”

Loki said nothing, and when Darcy spared him a glance, she found him gazing poker-faced at the dugout, and perhaps it was a trick of the light, but his cheeks had a pink tinge to them she hadn’t noticed before.

“Loki,” she said after a moment, her voice half its normal volume. “I’m sorry. Is this too much?”

Loki flinched as the aluminum bat and ball made contact with an echoing _crack_. The ball flew up and backwards, arcing perfectly into the upper deck on the opposite side of the stadium. The jumbo-tron displayed the ensuing scuffle, everyone reaching to grab the foul ball, then the scramble as it flew right through someone’s fingers and bounced off an empty seat. The image on the screen zoomed after a short moment, showcasing a small boy holding the ball high, smiling triumphantly.

The batter’s next hit was a line drive that landed right between the shortstop and second baseman and earned him a spot on first base. Darcy clapped politely along with the spectators around her, but her eyes did not leave the god to her left.

“I believe I am… adequate?” Loki replied, hesitantly moving his gaze from the jumbo-tron to meet Darcy’s.

“Yeah, thanks,” she said, voice dripping with sarcasm. “I’m _totally_ convinced now.”

Her hand twitched towards him, but she hesitated. Loki seemed to have a very stringent “no touching” rule. It was unspoken, but Darcy could tell the way he shrunk away from her – and, really, anyone – if they got too close for comfort. Which happened, like, all the time. Still, she touched a hesitant palm to his upper back, right between his shoulder blades. He started, and she could see his whole body tense; she almost withdrew her hand, but steeled herself. Eyes drifting back to the field – one of the players had taken the risk of trying to steal home, but was tagged out as he slid onto the base – she let her fingers absently rub a small side-to-side motion over the taut muscles. It took a solid minute for him to even relax a little, but she persisted. Another run was scored for the Mets, but she contained her exuberant cheering to inside her head. It wasn’t until the next batter was struck out that Loki finally opened his eyes, lifted his head, and took a deep, calming breath.

“Thank you,” he said so softly Darcy could barely make it out over the din of the stadium.

“Well, I mean, I got you into this, dude,” Darcy said, trying to keep her tone light-hearted, even though she was freaked on a minimal level about Loki nearly having a breakdown. “Least I can do is to get you to the end of the inning. Which is now, actually.” She paused and quirked an eyebrow. “You seem like you’ve had enough for the day.”

“I… I do suppose so,” Loki said absently, watching the players return to their dugouts. “Yes,” he continued, glancing at her briefly, “just give me one moment and I think I shall be ready.” 

“Hey, you stuck it out til the fifth. I’m impressed!”

“_Aaaaaalright, Mets fans, cuddle your sweetie closer and pucker up – that’s right, it’s time for the New York Mets Kiss Cam_!”

“Ooh, these are always so funny!” Darcy said excitedly as the game announcer’s voice echoed around the stands. Loki joined her in turning his attention to the jumbo-tron, where the graphic of a heart-shaped baseball morphed into footage from one of the stadium cameras, focused on a young couple who grinned when they caught sight of themselves on the screen, and gave each other a polite peck. The image of them faded, replaced immediately by an older couple who took a long moment to catch on, tittered politely, and the woman gave the man a kiss on the cheek. And then…

Darcy and Loki were staring at their own faces.

Darcy had elaborate and extravagant goals of making it on the jumbo-tron since she’d been old enough to understand that her image would be on the screen for the whole stadium to see. How cool! Sadly, attention had always been focused elsewhere. Every damn time, she was passed over by someone else. It usually ended up that someone in her general vicinity would make it up there, her face _just_ out of the frame. Once, there was even a baby, dressed up in Padres gear, and when the father lifted her, Simba style, to milk her fifteen seconds of fame, she spit up. That little shit actually puked up her formula on the screen for everyone to see. But Darcy couldn’t get her face on there for long enough to wink, cheer, and shoot everyone the ‘rock on’ gesture with both hands? It just wasn’t right. She had vowed long ago that if she ever appeared on the jumbo-tron, she’d go along with it, take it in stride, and probably milk the hell out of it. (Ew, now milk just sounded gross.)

So when she found herself staring at her own face, well, who could blame her for reacting how she did? It was a kiss cam. So she lunged at Loki and attached herself to him at the mouth.

That was the appropriate response, right?

Of course, he stiffened up like a damn board the minute her hand cupped his cheek and her lips touched to his. She plowed through it though, lips insistent. But then, just as she was about to pull away, his whole body relaxed. Just as when she’d tried the mini-massage on his back, she’d held out just long enough that he reacted. Well, no, he didn’t react, he just stopped fighting it. Right? The feather light touch on her shoulder was totally her imagination. And the slight push and pull of his lips against hers – well, that was just instinctive, right? It’s so hard not to kiss back when you’re kissed. At least, as far as Darcy was concerned.

She finally broke away and pulled back to find herself face-to-face with the heir to the Frost Giant throne looking utterly debauched – his normally pale pink lips a dark red, hair slightly askew, eyes wide and pupils blown. Loki acted like he’d been clubbed over the head with a baseball bat. Repeatedly. She could tell by the sight of him she’d pushed too far.

But he had yet to react. She waited with bated breath for the bursts of magic to shoot out of his hands, the aliens to descend from the sky, an army to level New York City once again. It honest-to-God freaked her out, more than a little. 

He spoke after the longest moment. “Now is, perhaps, a good time to… er…”

Aw, his soft, scratchy little voice was precious. He sounded incredibly dazed, _looked_ incredibly dazed, as he began to rise from his seat, his head tipped in the direction of the stairs to lead them the fuck out of there. Darcy couldn’t say she blamed him. Someone wolf-whistled as they stepped over feet and left their row. If only it were that simple. She was not looking forward to the explosion she would likely endure when they were out of earshot. Still, no alien robots. She probably should be cutting the guy a little more slack.


End file.
